Deborah Samuel, a former student of Sokoto State's Shehu Shagari College of Education, was laid to rest today in her village, Tungan Magajiya, in the Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State, amid controversy.

This is despite the fact that the Sokoto State Government purportedly demanded that the body be kept in the mortuary until the situation was resolved.

Deborah was stoned to death and set ablaze by her classmates on Thursday after reportedly making a profane statement on a WhatsApp group.

According to reports, the deceased had been staying with family members in Sokoto while she was in primary school.

It was learnt that while the body of Deborah was being transported home for burial, an official of the Sokoto State Government allegedly called that the body should be returned back as it belongs to the government.

The government had asked the family to deposit the deceased in the mortuary until burial arrangements were concluded.

However, the parents disagreed with the government’s position, insisting that their daughter’s body would be buried today.

Naijacrawl learned that since the news of the incident reached the parents of Deborah, the mother has been unconscious while the father has been in a state of grief and pain.

Reacting, the pastor of the family in charge of the 1st ECWA in Tunga Magajiya, Pastor Emmanuel Maaji, explained that the family is insisting that their daughter be buried today as against the state government’s position to wait until it completes its own arrangement.

According to him, the parents are not happy with the way the government is handling the issue.

The cleric said the body of the deceased was transported back home in a chartered bus and not a government vehicle.

Maaji further stated that the government only called and said that it was not right for the family to take the body like that without informing them. They said that they shouldn’t bury the body as it belonged to the government and not the family. They asked them to put the body in the mortuary.

When asked for the name of the government official that asked that the body be returned back to Sokoto State, the pastor stated that he could not recollect the name, but that the person claimed to be a representative of the state government.

Confirming the development, the CAN Coordinator of the Rijau Local Government Area, Reverend Danjuma Doma, explained that the family and church are preparing to bury the remains of Late Deborah, adding, “We will update you on the situation as it goes, but we are all here to support the family at this moment of grief.”

Earlier, there was a disagreement over the burial site prepared for her at the town’s cemetery, when some youths appeared and claimed that she could not be laid to rest in it, saying that it was dug for another deceased person in the area.

Also, confirming the development, Pastor Maaji said as a result of the action of the youth, the family and church decided to suspend the burial and deposit the deceased in the morgue to avoid further argument.

But, when we pravailed on the youth, they saw reason with us and allowed us to burry her in the grave under contention. This is because the body is burnt and not good to the eyes, "the cleric added.